Deathless Death
by SzarlotUK
Summary: Edward Mordrake X OC. Three years before Freakshow, a young magician invokes Mordrake for revenge. They form a bond throughout the course of the night - but when Halloween is over, who will Mordrake offer his deathless death? And three years later, when Mordrake visits Elsa's troupe, will the choice he makes come back to haunt him?
1. Chapter 1

**[I haven't written fanfiction in a long time so please be gentle! I want this to be a MordrakexOC fic that weaves in and out of the show but is mostly independent of it. I'm not really sure where this is going at the moment though, I may change my mind. Not much happens in this chapter but Mordrake will come into it soon!]**

**Chapter One**

**Derry, Maine, 1949**

'Step inside, step inside! You, Sir – dare you enter the realm of the Mystical Mister Magico? No? How about you, sonny?'

The small boy stopped and blinked owlishly up at the hugely tall man, whose patience was wearing thin. Big Jim sighed inwardly but turned a grinning face towards the kid. Trying to goad carnival-goers into the tents of his fellow performers was hot work and the day was only getting hotter.

'Is he real magic?' the boy queried, self-importantly. 'Because I saw a circus last year and there was a magician there, but he didn't do real magic. You could tell he had the flowers up his sleeve. And my dad says there's no such thing as real magic!'

'Well, you'll have to go inside to find out, son…' Big Jim answered with a chuckle and a playful ruffle of the boy's hair. His hand was big enough to crush the boy's skull in one fist. The child narrowed his eyes up at him but didn't walk away. The allure of the red tent's shadowy depths was tempting. Above the entrance was a banner reading 'Mister Magico – he will amaze you!' He could hear laughter and snatches of music, and could see a large crowd gathered around a stage. Slowly, the little boy approached the crowd, the flaps of the tent closing around him and swallowing him in noisome darkness.

He pushed his way through the mass of people, squeezing himself into the gap between a mother and her gaggle of squealing girls. The crowd was clapping and wooping with joy at the show, but the boy was so small he had to stand on his tiptoes to see what was happening on the makeshift stage. When he saw what they were clapping for he laughed with delight. A slim young man was stood facing the crowd and drinking in their applause with a grin on his face, a white dove on his wrist. He was wearing what looked to the boy like very funny, old-fashioned clothes; tight black pantaloons, a starched white shirt with a green waistcoat and green cravat done up to his chin, and a top hat perched jauntily on his slicked-back red hair.

As the boy stared the mysterious man swept a handkerchief over the bird on his wrist and, in an instant, it was gone. Then, with a wink towards the audience, he spun around and whipped off his top hat with a flourish, releasing what looked like a hundred doves which came spilling out of the hat and flew in every direction. Several women in the crowd screamed and moved to cover their heads but just as suddenly as they had been produced, the doves disappeared and were replaced with a gentle white snow. What came raining down from the air were feathers and the boy jumped up to catch some in his fists. The audience went wild and Magical Mister Magico took a bow.

'So, what did you think?' Big Jim asked the boy as he left the tent some time later. The tall man smiled wryly at the rapturous look on the child's face.

'It was amazing!' the boy cried, eyes shining. 'It was… it was…'

'Real magic?'

'Yes!'

Big Jim watched the boy run away, no doubt running home to tell his parents about the show he'd just seen. That was for the best. Dale Thribodeau's travelling circus needed all the visitors it could get. The new performers had helped some, Jim conceded, but… well… the addition of a freakshow to the circus didn't seem completely right to him. He'd been raised to treat poor souls like the ones they'd recently taken on with kindness and Christian charity, and something about seeing the 'pinheads' being lead around the stage, and the man with no arms juggling with his feet, well… He didn't like it and that was that. This Mister Magico, though – that was a completely different case.

The magician had showed up to the circus six months beforehand. No one knew where that little enigma had been before, but that was no surprise. Performers often weren't too detailed about their pasts. A tint of an English accent was the only clue. The magic act had been a real draw, and Dale had been talking about making Magico a headline act soon. Magicians were common in circuses and good magicians were easy enough to come by, but this was different. Visitors left the tent shaking their heads, and even after they'd walked around the rest of the stalls, went around on the Ferris wheel and eaten their cotton candy, _even then_ they still couldn't agree on how the tricks were done. It was just like real magic, they all decided.

Big Jim wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and ducked inside the tent. Pushing his way backstage, his head bent low so as not to hit it, he caught sight of Magico who was applying more makeup for the next performance.

'Great show again today', he told the magician. 'You're all they're talking about when they walk out of here'.

'Thanks, Jim', Magico said with a smile. The frantic energy of the performance was gone and replaced with an expression that was tired but kind.

'Really, they come outta here not knowing what hit them', Jim continued, leaning on a crate and causing it to creak with the weight. 'It's just like real magic, you know? I don't know how you do it.'

The magician looked into the cracked mirror that was leant against a tent pole and pulled at the bun holding their hair up, freeing it to fall down in waves. Mister Magico laughed and watched her reflection laughing back at her.

'Just like real magic, huh?' she smiled and Jim nodded, not completely understanding what was so funny.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Bristol, England, 1940**

A little girl was cowering in the darkness. She scarcely breathed, terrified that the slightest movement would send her sanctuary crashing down around her. The cramped space had been cold, but it was growing hotter. Her eyes, usually a warm brown, were black with fear. She remembered only snatches of the last few minutes; her mother, screaming for her to run down the garden to the Anderson shelter; her brother crying from an upstairs window, dazed from sleep but alone, so alone; her father shoving her through the door of the little metal box and slamming it closed. She had expected them to follow her straight away, her little brother over her father's shoulder, but they hadn't come.

The shelter was half buried in the ground, like most air raid shelters, and had cabbages and carrots growing all around its entrance. Bellow the ground, the girl had climbed onto one of the tiny bunk beds that were the only furniture, and snapped her fingers. A flame appeared in mid-air and hung there, enough to illuminate her grim face as she waited for her parents. Then had come the bomb.

The world above her head exploded. The shelter shuddered as if a giant were shaking it in his colossal fist, and all the girl was aware of was noise. The thundering was tremendous and for a few moments she knew that this was it, the world was ending, it had been consumed by fire. And that sound, the sound of her home being blown up in a scatter of wood and bricks, her family scattered with it. The flame went out and she curled into a ball, praying not to die.

**Derry, Maine, 1949**

Lily Avery hadn't been born until she found the freakshow. She'd been alive, true, but her life really started when she'd they'd taken her in six months previously. Before that she had only known fear and, although she had sworn she was happy many times to a certain man, she had never known true happiness.

She adjusted her costume as she stepped off the stage, the applause of the crowd at her back warming her like the strongest whisky. She was immediately drawn into a huge hug by a petite blonde girl who was squealing with delight. Mandy, a contortionist, was not one of the 'freaks' herself but a good friend to most of them and often came to watch Lily perform.

'Wonderful as ever!' she congratulated the other girl, and Lily did a jaunty sidestep, jokingly tipping her top hat to her friend.

'Thank you very much, young Miss. I'm here every night, all week…'

'Every week', Mandy chimed in, with a roll of her eyes. 'Not like that slave driver ever gives us any time off.'

'I honestly don't mind,' Lily laughed, taking off her waistcoat and beginning to wipe the heavy makeup from her face. 'I never feel so alive as when I'm on stage.'

'Well,' Mandy giggled, 'some of us actually have lives to be getting on with!' Lily looked quizzically at her friend.

'It's not that Peter fella again, is it? He's below you, Mandy, you could get any man you wanted…'

'We're circus folk, Lily. No one's below us. Besides,' Mandy threw an arm around the red haired girl and pulled her towards their shared trailer, 'I don't want just any man. I want him. Go on!' she noticed Lily's snort of amusement and prodded her. 'Don't you want a man yourself?'

Lily was suddenly very quiet. The autumn evening air was chiller than usual and, as the girls crossed the closing circus, the grass seemed to whip and grasp about their ankles with the breeze.

'I had one, once,' she said, carefully, 'and I don't want another anytime soon.'

Mandy realised she'd made a mistake in pushing her friend and, after an awkward pause, changed the subject.

'I just saw Big Jim and he told me that Dale hired a new act today. We're all going to meet him tomorrow.'

'What kind of act?'

Mandy shrugged. 'He didn't say. Something about fishes, I don't know. I was too busy watching that young strong man – what's his name? Kenny?'

Lily sighed and followed her into their trailer. She loved her friend dearly but she couldn't share her interest in young men. Not because she wasn't attracted to handsome men, but because she had long ago vowed that romance caused more trouble than it was worth. More heartbreak and more broken bones.

'What are you doing tomorrow night?' Mandy asked the other girl as they started to change out of their performing costumes.

'I usually stay in on Halloween,' Lily answered. She was well aware of the freakshow tradition of not performing on Halloween and was glad of it, as it gave her an excuse to lock herself away and try to ignore the spirits that came out to roam on that night. Most didn't bother her but the ghostly carnival that would pass through the world once a year was not a thing she looked forward to, not least because other people were oblivious to them.

As the two girls changed into their casual clothes there came a knock on the door. 'Wait!' Mandy called out crossly, pulling her dress over her hips. Lily hurriedly struggled into her pair of slacks – she hardly ever wore dresses, a trait that met with disapproval elsewhere but caused no comment amongst her fellow freaks – and when they were both dressed they called out for the visitor to come in.

Dale Thribodeau, the show owner, was wearing his usual harassed expression as he climbed the steps into the trailer. His face was perpetually slick with oil and he could be tough, overworking them as he did, but he was not a mean man and Lily liked him. He smiled at the girls and hitched up his pants.

'Hey there. We're having a few beers with the new freak, a little welcome party, like. Was wondering if you want to join us.' He sniffed with a snort and Lily could see Mandy biting her lip so as not to giggle. Speaking for both of them she answered that they'd love to join the rest of the troupe, and soon after they slipped out into the night and made their way towards the boss's tent.

As they approached she heard the sounds of laughter and raised voices, and the girls hurried to push back the flaps of the tent and step inside. As they did so Dale gestured towards them and addressed the assembled group of circus performers and freaks, who were grouped around the newcomer and swigging from their drinks.

'Ah, there are the girls! Lily, Mandy, meet our newest freak!'

The group parted and Lily stopped dead, as if she'd been frozen solid on the spot. The newcomer rose from his seat and grinned at her, looking straight into her shocked face. His eyes were mirthless and had no warmth in their icy blue depths, but he was smiling.

'Oh, I know Lily Avery,' he chuckled softly. 'We're old friends.'

**[I based the bit about the bombing raid on my grandmother's experience of losing her house to a bomb in 1940. Thanks for the reviews so far: **

**Dudeurfugly – there needs to be more Mordrake fics around, I agree! I loved his character and he really inspired my imagination, I hope he comes back.**

**ECYA – I shall try to answer these and more questions as the fic continues, I have some tricks up my sleeve!**

**Hope you guys are still reading and I promise Mordrake is coming, I just had more to establish than I thought! Thanks]**


	3. Chapter 3

**[Thanks for continuing to read guys! I'm trying to make chapters longer from now on AND -drumroll please - Mordrake is in the next chapter. I've changed this fic from T to M, especially with later chapters in mind. TRIGGER WARNING for abuse]**

**Chapter Three**

The rest of the troupe were still drinking and laughing, so only Mandy saw Lily's expression of shock and anger at the sight of the newcomer. He was still smiling, seemingly amused at the girl's silent confusion, and stuck out his hand for the contortionist to shake.

'The name's Ashley Barnard, just Ash to my friends – and I do so hope we'll be friends…' He winked at Mandy, who fought back a giggle. The man in front of her was good looking, with smooth dark hair and a face unlined with age, but her friend's discomfort was obvious.

Lily finally found her voice, although it had a quake in it as she hissed at the new freak. 'What – what – why the Hell are you here, Ashley?' Her eyes were black with rage and her clenched fists were shaking, raised as if to defend herself against blows.

'I am,' Ash sat down heavily on a chair and put his feet up on the table, ignoring Lily's obvious distress, 'the new addition to Dale Thribodeau's troupe. I think you'll remember my act, sweetheart, but as this pretty thing here hasn't had the pleasure I'll elaborate.' He grinned at Mandy and pulled an old, crumpled flier from his jacket pocket.

'I am better known as the Incredible Mer-man, thanks to these.' He gestured towards his neck and for the first time Mandy noticed the small slits on both sides, almost obscured by his collar. 'They're not real gills, 'course, and have drat all to do with breathing underwater, but as part of my act I spend a full fifteen minutes submerged in a tank. Then I jump out and show them by gills, and say I'm the king of the mermaid kingdom.' He snorted and Mandy opened her mouth, amazed.

'You can hold your breath for fifteen minutes? But how-'

'How did you find me?' Lily cut across her friend, gaze locked on the young man. 'I told you once and I'll say it again, I won't ever come back with you and if you lay one hand on me I'll kill you, I swear it, damn you!'

Ash raised his eyebrows at her venom. 'Hey, sweetheart, I didn't come here for you. I didn't even know you were here until I saw you just now. I came for the job, honest.'

'You chased me across three counties and you expect me to believe you just happened across me here, here, where I've made a home?' Lily's voice was rising from a growl to a snarling shout and the others were starting to take notice. Mandy hopped awkwardly from foot to foot, making agonised expressions at her friend's anger.

'Leave here, now, and never come back!'

Ash just smirked up at her from his seat, and carried on smiling.

'God, I missed how beautiful you look when you're angry. Your cheeks match your hair, sweetheart.'

Lily shook her head and laughed mirthlessly, a bitter sound that rose above the silence that had descended.

'You bastard, Ashley. You absolute – you absolute bastard.' Still shaking her head she turned and ran from the tent, stumbling out into the still night. Mandy hovered for a moment, glanced at Ash, then followed her friend at a sprint.

'What in the Hell was that about, Barnard?' Dale demanded, waddling over to where the new freak sat.

'Ah, sorry about that, Boss. She used to have a thing for me, I had to turn her down and she never forgave me,' Ash winced, 'you know how it is with women.' Dale nodded in sympathy and Ash laughed inwardly, trying to imagine that tub of lard being pursued by any woman. He stood and sauntered out of the tent himself, going unnoticed by the others as they got back to the party.

**Coney Island, New York, 1947**

'I'm not so sure about this new material, Ash.'

'What's not to be sure of, sweetheart?' He threw an arm around Lily and brought her closer, against the new year's chill air. They threaded through the crowds thronging towards the exit to the circus, but the couple were walking in the opposite direction. This was their home.

'I don't know whether the audience will buy this. I can do it, sure, but… producing birds from thin air?' She shifted uncomfortably and lowered her voice. 'They need to know it's still a trick, they can't start wondering if there's more to it. I don't want to be burned at the stake.'

'Relax, honey,' Ash kissed her cheek and she smiled up at him, still shy of this intimacy after all their years together. 'They won't have a clue. They go to see a magician and they come away trying to guess how it was all done. That's it. They'll just think you're a genius.'

'Not me, it's Mister Magico who's the genius,' she laughed but still seemed troubled. 'All right, I trust you, but if the Inquisition come knocking I'm sending you out to answer the door, OK?'

'Of course you trust me, I'm your manager. I'm looking out for my interest too, you're my little investment.'

'Is that all I am, an investment?' Lily met his eyes and was momentarily disturbed by the lack of warmth she saw there, but in a second the coldness was gone and he was hers again. He sighed.

'Honey, you know I love you. We don't need to go through this again. What else do I need to do to prove it to you?'

'Well, marrying me would be top of the list – I don't want our baby to be a bastard, Ash.'

'I've told you before, sweetheart.' His voice had taken on an edge of malice. 'All in due time. We'll be married before he comes. Now stop all this worrying. It's not good for our little boy.' He reached out and ran a hand over her stomach, which was beginning to show a curve.

Lily stopped and caught Ash's hand, holding him still. They were almost alone by that point, all the remaining visitors having taken refuge from the light drizzle of rain that was drifting in the air. Around the couple, however, the droplets were suspended, hanging as if in a web. No rain had touched either of them.

'Ashley, do you love me?' She asked, face upturned, imploring. He snarled and threw up his hands, roughly jerking them from her own.

'Jesus, Lily, not this again! When are you going to let that go? I was drunk, I'm never going to see her again. You know it's you I love and you alone.'

She looked down at her feet. 'You weren't drunk last time…'

He cupped her face and raised it so their eyes met. 'There will never be another, Lily. Believe me.' His voice was soft, like his skin against her own.

'That's what you said last time.' Her reply was quiet but he heard her. Suddenly, his grip on her face was hard, his nails digging into her cheeks. She squealed in pain and tried to jump out of his grip but he held her fast against him.

'Let it go, Lily,' he growled in her ear, her frightened eyes looking straight into his cool ones. After a second her dropped his hand and turned abruptly, walking away and leaving her stood alone, the rain beginning to soak into his jacket as he did so. Lily stayed where he'd left her, shaking with silent tears. As she watched a thin strand of blood ran down her face and a droplet fell, joining the stream of water running down the street.

'Well? Are you coming?' Ash barked from a little way away, not turning his head as he waited for her to follow him.

'Yes, Ashley,' she mumbled, slowly wiping at her bleeding cheek.

**Derry, Maine, 1949**

Lily leant against the cool metal of their trailer, not yet ready to step inside. Her thoughts were a storm of rage, incoherent and howling. How had he found her? She'd been on the run from her ex-lover for more than a year, and thought he had lost her trail since she arrived at the freakshow six months before. But here he was, and with a job too!

She stiffened as she heard footsteps approaching and relaxed when she saw it was only Mandy. Lily met her friend's eyes and there was a moment where they just looked at each other, then Lily felt the tears running down her face and Mandy drew her into a wordless embrace. After a few minutes they drew apart and the blonde girl led her into their shared trailer.

Lily threw herself down on her cramped bed and Mandy perched on the edge of her own, which was built into the wall of the trailer and directly opposite Lily's. She took Lily's hand and looked into her tear-blotched face.

'What was that all about?' Mandy asked in an awed whisper. 'Who was that man?'

So Lily told her.

After an hour had passed Lily was finally finished, and Mandy was crying alongside her, sniffing into a handkerchief.

'There has to be some way we can get him out of here,' she said firmly. 'We can go to Dale, he'll listen to me, I know he likes me – dirty old man that he is – and he'll throw that goddamn coward out of the show!'

'No,' Lily shook her head, 'he won't. Ash will bring in the punters and that's what's important. Dale is a good guy but he's got the whole troupe to think of. They don't eat if we don't make money.'

'But you can't live alongside him after what he did to you! And your baby, your poor baby…' Mandy looked at her with anguish as Lily bit her lip and put her head in her hands. The contortionist jumped to her feet and moved to leave the trailer.

'I'm going to go and tell him right now, I'm going to put a stop to this before it begins!'

'There's no point, Mandy,' Lily objected weakly, but her friend had already left. She hated how impulsive the young contortionist could be sometimes but she was so glad to have a friend like her. Friends weren't something she had become used to in her twenty years on earth. She began undressing slowly, like a person in a dream, except her dream was a nightmare and she realised that she would never wake up. She pulled on her nightdress and went to lock the door to the trailer. Mandy would just have to knock to be let back in; she didn't feel safe leaving it unlocked.

As she went to pull the bolt across the door was wrenched open. She backed away, a yell already forming in her throat, before a hand slapped across her face and her shout was muffled to a moan. Her flailing arm knocked over the gas lamp on the table and the light went out. She couldn't see her attacker in the darkness but she knew who it was instinctively. A voice spoke in her ear, hot and harsh and scented with alcohol.

'I heard you were planning on telling stories about me, sweetheart. I can't let you do that.'


	4. Chapter 4

**[Hi guys, this story is taking darker turns now, and I hope that's ok. TRIGGER WARNING for rape. I went back and updated Chapter Two because I realised that I failed to establish that the main story has been taking place on the night of October 30****th**** – so when the time passes midnight it will be Halloween morning, and guess what that means? Mordrake in this chapter! I'm excited…**

**The song that Lily sings is called 'Astronaut' by Amanda Palmer. I wanted to use the idea of the characters from season four singing modern day songs, I know some fans don't like that but I personally like it and wanted to pay tribute to it in this fic. If you want an idea of the emotions that the song Lily sings invokes then go and give 'Astronaut' a listen, but if the singing thing isn't for you then just ignore it and carry on. Thanks for reading!]**

**Chapter Four**

Lily bit down on the hand that was clasped around her mouth, hard. Ash grunted with pain but only redoubled his grip around her waist. With all her willpower Lily tried to force his hands away from her, but all that she succeeded in doing was making him laugh.

'I can feel you trying that voodoo of yours on me, honey, and I'm telling you it won't work. Never has worked on me, has it?' He forced her over to the bed and pushed her down, pinning her there with his legs. His face looked triumphant; he was claiming his property, Lily thought, and felt physically sick.

'You just love me too damn much for it to work,' he continued, pushing her hair back from her forehead, leaving it oily with his sweat. She smelled drink on his breath.

'I don't love you, Ashley!' she forced out from between her clenched teeth.

'You need me too much, then – you can't deny that!' Ash sounded as if he were trying to convince himself more than her, and Lily's frantic thoughts cast about the trailer, trying to think of a way to hurt him enough to make him let her go. During the day and in a good light Ashley Barnard could look like a handsome prince, with his angular jaw and thick wavy hair, eyes blue and piercing as the sky and smile like a cheeky schoolboy caught doing something wrong. In that crazed half-light, however, he looked to her like a leering demon and for the first time Lily felt truly afraid for her life.

'I overheard you talking to that other slut, saying you're going to go to Thribodeau and tell him about us,' Ash growled. 'I can't let you do that. I need this job. After you ran out on me I had to go back to performing, only there isn't so much work left for a man with fucking gills these days. Freakshows are closing everywhere, and the ones still open want flashy acts. Acts like yours, the act I _made_ for you.' He pushed down on her stomach with his knee and she gasped in pain.

'I've got nothing now, sweetheart. You were my ticket to stardom and you're not going to ruin this for me.'

'Wasn't – going – to – tell…' Lily moaned, trying not to show him how much he was hurting her. She was weak, she knew; she'd never had the courage to fight anyone, especially not Ash. But she was proud and she would be damned if he'd see her cry.

'Oh really? I caught that little blonde slut running off to Dale not five minutes ago. Set her straight on a thing or two,' he added, grimly.

Lily looked up at him, panicked. 'Did you… hurt her?' she demanded through the pain. Ash smiled and shrugged, an evil glint in his eye.

'Let's just say she won't be talking to Dale anytime soon. I didn't kill her or anything, don't you get your panties into a twist,' he said, 'I just straightened her out. She'll be OK in a day or two. Hell, twisting into all different shapes is her job.'

'You… bastard…' Lily snarled. Ash put a hand on her breast and looked uncharacteristically solemn.

'I loved you, Lily. I'm gonna make you love me again. Right now,' he grunted, reaching down to his belt, 'I'm going to teach you a lesson. Make sure you never think about going running to Dale, not now or ever, otherwise I'll do worse next time. You know I can do worse…'

Lily felt the urge to scream well up inside of her as she realised what Ash was about to do, but forced it down. She didn't want him to see her terror and she was afraid to provoke further violence from him. Like he said, she knew how much he could hurt her, and she hoped to make it out of there with no broken bones. No matter what happened.

She lay motionless as he pulled her nightdress up over her hips, her eyes shut tight as she tried to send her mind out to somewhere, anywhere else than where she was that moment. As he forced himself inside of her she thought of the starry expanse of space stretching out above the trailer, of her mother's smell, now only half remembered, of her brother's laughing face as they had played together as children. Of the sound that the bomb made as it had destroyed her world nine years previously.

When Ash had gone, a slurred threat and a harsh kiss his parting gifts to her, Lily lay still for a long time, not thinking, concentrating on breathing. The action of drawing in air and expelling it in a steady rhythm reminded her that she was alive, and for that she was thankful. Her tears could fall unheeded now but they did not. Her eyes were dry. She felt a wetness on the inside of her thigh and knew that it was blood.

Slowly, so slowly, she drew herself up and gasped in pain as her joints screamed their protest at the movement. She did not want to look in a mirror but could feel the bruises blooming on her body, her arms, her breasts. Her mind was still blank, too shocked and tired, so tired, as she moved to her feet and hobbled out of the trailer into the night.

She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to leave the place where she had been violated, the soiled bed and the stale air that still smelled of his sweat. As she walked through the grass she could hear the others still laughing and drinking in Dale's tent, although it must have been past midnight by then. Her foot struck something soft.

There was a whimper from the darkness and, looking down, she saw that she had almost stepped on her friend lying in the long grass at the side of the path. Mandy was huddled into a ball and she was holding her arm, which was bent strangely. Lily leant down and touched the other girl's shoulder, her heart hurting at the way in which she jumped at the contact, afraid.

'Lily! Lily, he – that man – my arm – Oh Lily, it hurts so bad!' Mandy sobbed, leaning gratefully on her friend's shoulder as she raised her to her feet. 'He told me to stay here or he'd kill me. He said he didn't want me going to Dale about him. He's crazy, Lily!'

'I know he is,' Lily answered, her breath coming faster as her heart sped. Suddenly she didn't feel blank and emotionless. She felt angry. Her rage swelled through her body, her heart on fire with it, breathing the soul of it, and she felt the power hit her all at once. She felt everything; the warmth of the bodies clustered in Dale's tent, the minds of the ants in the long grass, the terror coming from her friend in waves, all of it connected, all of it at her disposal. The powers that had always been within her reach were now at her fingertips and she knew, then, exactly what to do with them.

'What time is it?' she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. Mandy looked at her as if she had gone mad but reached into her dress to where she kept a small pocket watch given to her by that boy, Peter.

'It's just past midnight.'

Lily nodded, her clenched fists trembling. 'Mandy, I have something I need to do. Will you go to Dale's and get someone to look at your arm? Tell them that you tripped and broke it.' Lily saw Mandy's look of confusion and smiled, as kindly as she could. 'Trust me. I'm going to fix this, once and for all.'

When Mandy had gone Lily took a deep breath, feeling the pain coursing through her body and turning it inside out, feeding the power from it. She looked towards the main show tent. It would be dark, she knew, there would be nobody there to challenge her. She hurried towards it, feet barely touching the floor.

As she pushed approached the stage she stopped for a moment and considered what she was about to do. The stories weren't specific about what happened if a freak performed on Halloween and it had been Halloween for the last few minutes, since the clock struck midnight. What all the stories agreed on, however, was that a terrific force would be invoked and bring death with it. Which was exactly what Lily wanted.

She stood on the darkened stage and flicked a finger in the air, sparking a flame which hung there and grew, drifting upwards in a large ball of light which illuminated the whole tent. She looked around at the musical instruments that the freaks had packed away but left onstage and moved a hand towards them, making them leap out of their cases and assemble themselves, ready to play. She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, looking through the canvas of the tent and to the stars beyond. With a glance from her the piano began to play itself, furiously, with all the power that she could draw from her rage, and the drums began to bang away as if they were possessed. Lily began to sing.

Singing was not one of her talents but she threw all of her pain into her voice and it rang out loudly, husky from tears but stronger than she had ever thought. As the power surrounded her in a fury of activity and as the music swelled and carried her upwards, her hair began to whip about her head and unknot itself, her red curls flowing around her face. The nightdress that Ash's careless hands had ripped began to knit itself back together and her face, contorted with the passion of her singing, seemed to glow from within with a furious beauty.

A green mist was flowing into the tent, she noticed mid song, but she carried on singing, afraid now to stop. As her voice reached a crescendo she felt a presence behind her and turned, dream-like, to see a man stood within touching distance. He was a handsome man, she saw as he moved towards her, an entranced expression on his face. He was tall, with long black hair and pale blue eyes that were wide with innocence but darkened by an unidentifiable air of sorrow. She felt as if she were in a trance herself as she reached out to him and sang the last few notes, addressing him and only him in this strange dark vision.

'And you may be acquainted with the night,' she sang, 'but I have seen the darkness in the day, and you must know it is a terrifying sight, because you and I are living the same way…'

As the last notes of the piano died away into silence, broken only by Lily's heavy breathing, she noticed that the stranger's clothes were odd. An old fashioned suit and jacket that looked like something her great grandfather had worn in a family photograph, long destroyed, and an emerald green cravat, with a black top hat pulled low over his head. There was even a cape, for goodness' sake.

'You,' Lily said, drawing herself up to her full height, the power still coursing through her, 'must be Edward Mordrake.'

'At your service, Miss,' Mordrake replied, taking her hand and pressing it to his cool lips.


End file.
